By P.K.Balachandran-07th February 2015
COLOMBO: M.A.Sumanthiran, a Tamil National Alliance
(TNA) MP, is currently in Geneva lobbying at the UN Human Rights Council
(UNHRC) for release of the UN’s investigative report on allegations of
war crimes committed in the last phase of the 2006-2009 Eelam War IV
in North Sri Lanka.
The TNA is trying to counter the US move to postpone the presentation of
the report which has been prepared by the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) at the request of the UNHRC.
The “strong” report castigating Sri Lanka, is due for presentation at
the March session of the UNHRC. But the US and its allies are wanting a
postponement of the presentation to September, to give the new
liberal-democratic and pro-Western government of Sri Lanka led by
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,
sufficient time to put in place a credible domestic mechanism to
investigate the charges.
Case For Postponement
The US argument for postponement is that failure to give the new regime
sufficient time to do the needful could result in ultra-nationalist and
anti-minority forces in Lanka, represented by former President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, riding back to power on a Sinhalese majoritarian wave in the
June parliamentary elections.
This view was conveyed to the TNA by the US Assistant Secretary of State
for South Asia, Nisha Biswal, when she was in Lanka recently.
SL Govt’s Stance
The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government is happy with the US stance and
is in the process of negotiating with the US what should be done to
satisfy the UNHRC and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince
Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein.
To have discussions on the question, Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala
Samaraweera is to meet the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in
Washington on February 12. Samaraweera has invited Rights High
Commissioner Zeid to visit Sri Lanka at the earliest to see the
situation for himself and also to discuss ameliorative measures.
TNA’s Concerns
But the TNA fears that a postponement may lead to the report being
brushed under the carpet. The US may want to keep the pro-Western
politicians in power in Lanka perpetually, and for that purpose, may go
for a compromise with them on the Tamil question.
The US has said that a revised UN report could be presented at the
UNHRC’s September session taking into account the measures taken by the
Lankan government between now and September. But the TNA thinks the
Lankan government will not deliver on its promises for electoral
reasons. It has to face crucial parliamentary elections in June. It will
lose if a substantial section of the Sinhalese-majority is against
giving concessions to the Tamil minority at the behest of foreign
powers.
The TNA itself has electoral compulsions to think of. It has to fight
the parliamentary elections on a pro-human rights and pro-Tamil
platform. It cannot be seen as pussyfooting on the UN report.
Tamil Diaspora’s Demand
Meanwhile, the Global Tamil Forum’s spokesman, Suren Surendiran, said
that the UN team’s report has to be released in March to assuage the
feelings of the wounded Tamil masses.
Referring to the thousands of Tamils who had perished, and many others
whose kith and kin had disappeared, Surendiran said: “We want the truth
to be told. Any breaches of international laws should be dealt with
through an international judicial process. The UN report will serve as a
first step in this process."
